be made up to $1000 if successful, or in substitution the
"fee of the land worth about $2000."[1] In his letter,
he stated that the Governor of Virginia had directed the
appeal to be entered and to be prosecuted at the expense
of the State but that the Legislature had declined to
authorize the expense, consequently he was forced to
prosecute it himself. "Mr. (John) Marshall of this
State and the Attorney General of the United States,
Mr. (Charles) Lee will argue the cause on behalf of
Fairfax. Several reasons induce me to wish a postponement of this trial until the February Term. If this can
be obtained, it is probable that the Legislature of this
State and perhaps some others will see the propriety of
defending themselves against the claims of the late
proprietors and their representatives. I believe there
can be no doubt but that several of the States who were
subject to proprietary grants will find themselves in as
great danger from their clamor as this State is from the
claim of Denny Fairfax for the Northern Neck. At
least 150,000 pounds has been paid into the Treasury for vacant lands in the Northern Neck."[2] Hamilton
declined to take the case, writing: "It not being my
general plan to practice in the Supreme Court of the
United States"; and on July 19, Hunter's counsel in
Virginia, Alexander Campbell, died. Accordingly, Hunter addressed a letter to the Court, asking for postponement. After argument in opposition by Lee and Jared
Ingersoll, the Court continued the case, stating that
- ↑ Hamilton Papers MSS, letter of July 7, 1796; this letter has never been published.
- ↑ See also Marshall, II, 206–207; History of the Supreme Court of the United States (1912), by Gustavus Myers, 237-240. Among other States similarly affected was North Carolina, where later the case of Granville v. Davies in the Federal Circuit Court in 1805 involved somewhat the same issues. The Granville Estate and North Carolina, by Henry G. Connor, U. of P. Law Rev. (1914), LXII; see also Jefferson Papers MSS, letter to Eldridge Rolfe, March 4, 1808; James Sprunt Hist. Monograph No. 3, letters of John Steele to Nathaniel Macon, April, 1808, and Macon to Steele, June 11, 1808; American Daily Advertiser, April 7, 1809.
